"From day one, we purposely got involved in this box and with these
limitations and chose not to grow and evolve." ? White Stripes' Jack
White

They don't exactly wish it was still 1965, but the White Stripes would
probably be a lot happier if everything still sounded like it did back
then.

Not that they want every artist to be a facsimile of the Kinks, the
Sonics, Loretta Lynn and Muddy Waters (of course, they probably wouldn't
mind ), but they cherish the organic sounds of vintage recording
equipment. That's why frontman Jack White and his drummer sister (wink,
wink), Meg White, flew to London to record their new album, Elephant, at
Toe Rag, a studio owned by '60s throwback Liam Watson, who doesn't own
any gear made after 1963.

"It's so hard to find a studio nowadays that's devoid of that evil
digital and computer technology," Jack said while Meg nodded, which is
about as vocal as she gets. "You can find studios that have all the same
equipment that he does, but they also have all this other modern stuff.
... To give you too much opportunity really destroys creativity. If you
took an artist you respect and put them in a room with a broken guitar
and a two-track recorder, something more interesting would come out of
them than if you put them in some fancy L.A. studio with a million
dollars to spend."

The White Stripes take the same approach to songwriting as they do to
recording. Jack is convinced that less is more, which is why he refuses
to have more than two members in his band or to include basslines in his
songs. And while keyboard passages occasionally filter through the
group's songs, computer effects are strictly prohibited.

"From day one, we purposely got involved in this box and with these
limitations and chose not to grow and evolve," he said. "We still have
the same ideas we had when we started. We break everything down to its
most primitive state and involve the number three ? storytelling, melody
and rhythm; guitar, drums and vocals; red, white and black. Having these
set parameters allows us to work best."

The music on Elephant is deceptively simple yet created in a way that
allows Jack and Meg to intuitively feed off of each other. Her
rudimentary snare and bass drumming pave the way for his bluesy guitar
bluster, which lays the foundation for his vocals, and as they veer
between raspy and bratty the intensity of the music rises and dips.

Blind Willie McTell, the Rolling Stones and the Sonics are signature
touch points, especially on the more rockin' stuff such as "Black Math,"
"The Hardest Button to Button" and "Ball and Biscuit." But the White
Stripes also pause to deliver softer, more folksy fare like "You've Got
Her in Your Pocket" and the Meg-fronted "In the Cold, Cold Night." Once
again, the band shuns bass; Jack insists the low resonant groove in the
single "Seven Nation Army" comes from an octave guitar (see "White
Stripes To Put Their Best Trunk Forward On April Fool's Day With
Elephant ").

And even with their self-imposed limitations, the White Stripes have
built an expansive soundscape that includes elements of '50s rock on
"Hypnotize" and '70s pop with bluesy slide guitar on "I Want to Be the
Boy to Warm Your Mother's Heart." They even cover Burt Bacharach's "I
Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself."

"There was no real conscious thought involved in the different styles,"
Jack insisted. "Every album we've done, we've always tried to bring the
songs that were written and just force them all into this box and make
them work. We never premeditate anything. If we went in and said, 'OK,
we want to make a country record or a soul record,' we would just fail
miserably."

The White Stripes spent more time on Elephant than any of their past
three albums, but compared to nearly any other group, they bashed out
the record in a heartbeat.

"We did the whole thing in 10 days," said Jack, "and that's just because
the engineer at Toe Rag only wanted to work six-hour days."

Working so quickly forced the White Stripes to be on their toes and
avoid distractions. For most bands, speed is a recipe for disaster, but
Elephant sounds complete and unrushed.

"We like to be uncomfortable," Jack said. "I don't like those kind of
places where the studio is nicely heated and you've got a cappuccino
machine and video games to use in between takes. It should be
uncomfortable and you should feel forced to be working on something. It
feels like school to me, and I like that."

Actually, it looks like a nice, cozy room, and I surely like the Stripes' approach to the project (though I haven't yet heard it).

Having worked on a lot of 35mm film productions with and w/o nat. sound, with posting in rooms in Atlanta, Nashville and Richmond mainly, it's refreshing to know a place like this still exists. The prevelance of Pro-tools and other digital-based editing sources is virtually universal now, and the rooms tend to be so comfortable and perfectly appointed (with plenty of craft service/refreshments), that there is a tendency to sort of lose focus at times. It's kind of a nether-world where the air seems thin, no sunlight and the possibility of creating some version of reality would appear remote.

Just saw a TV interview where Jack White said it was mixed to 1/4" two-track and then mastered directly to vinyl (or something like that). Nothing in between there...I'm not sure how much sense that makes from an LP manufacturing point of view, but that's what he said. I won't get my LP before next week, but it should be sweet. A double album too, so that they didn't have to compromise the sound (there are only 3 or 4 tracks on each side). I did skip through the CD in a store today, and while the music was great and the overall sound very cool, I thought it did sound rather pumped-up...

I just picked up a copy of the LP for $14.99. (I bought the CD yesterday at Best Buy for $9.99).

Haven't listened to the vinyl yet - but I was very surprised at what was inside the double LP (released domestically by V2 records).

One LP (side A and B) is pure white vinyl - and I mean pure white. I just hope it plays quietly.

The second LP (side C and D) is see-through red vinyl. It also looks very clean - but again I wonder what it holds for overall fidelity.

You would think that with an album that was recorded to 8-track analog, mixed directly to 2-track analog and then mastered to vinyl would use higher quality vinyl than the thin (maybe 120gram) white and red vinyl.

Well as soon as I listen I will find out. But for pure surprise and a "cool" presentation the white and red vinyl look nice.

Originally posted by MikeT I just picked up a copy of the LP for $14.99. (I bought the CD yesterday at Best Buy for $9.99).

One LP (side A and B) is pure white vinyl - and I mean pure white. I just hope it plays quietly.

The second LP (side C and D) is see-through red vinyl. It also looks very clean - but again I wonder what it holds for overall fidelity.

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Am I wrong, or doesn't black vinyl have the most impurities in it? (That's why they make 'em black, to camouflage the crap!) I was always under the impression that colored or especially clear or translucent vinyl would be the most pure. I know some promo pressings in the '80's used a very dark yet translucent vinyl: Promo copies of Columbia singles where extremely dark red (looked black), promos on Warner Bros. and promos on I.R.S. also used black looking translucent (virgin?) vinyl...

Originally posted by teaser5 Just picked up the new disc
The bass on some tracks really fills them out.

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Actually, in a Stripes article in the new SPIN, they mentioned that there is no real bass on the album. Instead, Jack tuned his guitar to sound like a bass.

I didn't realize this was out already--I'm gonna have to rush out and buy it ASAP. The first single, "Seven Nation Army", is unbelievably cool. If this one is half as good as the last, it should be a monster!

Actually, in a Stripes article in the new SPIN, they mentioned that there is no real bass on the album. Instead, Jack tuned his guitar to sound like a bass.

I didn't realize this was out already--I'm gonna have to rush out and buy it ASAP. The first single, "Seven Nation Army", is unbelievably cool. If this one is half as good as the last, it should be a monster!

Click to expand...

Wow! It really sound fuzzy and cool. There's some keyboards on the album too. Or maybe guitars tuned to sound like keys. Who knows? This guy is so clever I wouldn't put anything past him. Plus I like using my elephant smiley!